Septembeb 21, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



365 



the underlying cause of the acceleration in 

 the rate of advance of natural knowledge. 

 Is it to be found in the increase in power 

 of the human intellect, or the diversion 

 into one particular channel of activities 

 previously otherwise employed? It is pos- 

 sible that the human intellect has, by the 

 processes of evolution, become more power- 

 ful, and that man's ability to decipher the 

 secrets of nature has thereby increased. I 

 think, however, that it would require a bold 

 advocate to support this thesis. If any 

 such mental evolution has taken place, it is 

 strange that it should be restricted to one 

 particular sphere of activity. Are our 

 poets and authors of to-day greater than 

 Homer, our statesmen than Pericles? Or, 

 passing into the domain of science, can we 

 say with confidence that, in pure power of 

 reasoning, Maxwell was undoubtedly the 

 superior of Archimedes? 



I have elsewhere indicated what appears 

 to me to explain the mystery of this accel- 

 eration, namely, the extension of our senses 

 by mechanical appliances. "When we sup- 

 plement our eyes by the bolometer and the 

 electric coherer, the range of our vision is 

 augmented a thousandfold. By the use of 

 the electroscope and the galvanometer we 

 have extended our senses of sight and 

 touch until we can detect the presence of 

 an electron. 



Having realized the imperfection of our 

 faculties, we have called upon nature in all 

 departments of science to supply our defi- 

 ciencies, and are thus enabled to walk with 

 confidence where previously all seemed 

 dark. 



From the time of Archimedes to that of 

 Bacon we despised natural knowledge while 

 we deified intellect and authority ; hence 

 for nearly 2,000 years our record was one 

 of retreat rather than advance. "When the 

 philosopher left his study and applied his 

 powders of observation to the phenomena of 



the universe, progress became a reality, 

 and thenceforward the march of discovery 

 has known no backward step. We have, 

 therefore, every reason to believe that when 

 the association again visits this ancient city 

 our president will be able to chronicle an 

 increase in natural knowledge even greater 

 than that which has been one of the dis- 

 tinguishing characteristics of the last quar- 

 ter of a century. 



E. H. Griffiths. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOB THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 

 SPECIAL MEETING, ITHACA, NEW YORE, 



JUNE 28-JULY 3, 1906. 

 SECTION E— GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY. 



The section organized at 11 a.m., Friday, 

 June 29, directly after the adjournment 

 of the first general session of the associa- 

 tion, in the geological lecture room, Me- 

 Graw Hall, with Vice-president and Chair- 

 man A. C. Lane in the chair and thirteen 

 members and seven visitors present. Be- 

 fore proceeding with the program of papers 

 the following preamble and resolution were 

 offered by Mr. George H. Chadwick, of Al- 

 bany, New York : 



Whereas in tlie decease of Professor Israel C. 

 Russell Section E has lost an efficient officer and 

 one of its foremost workers and best loved mem- 

 bers. 



Eiesol-ved, That the section express its deep 

 sorrow and its sense of the great loss to geologic 

 science through the event. 



Remarks to the motion were made by 

 Messrs. A. C. Lane, H. S. Williams, D. S. 

 Martin and E. 0. Hovey. 



The following papers were then read in 

 accordance with the printed program: 



Bevision of the Geological Section passing 

 through Ithaca, N. Y.: Professor H. S. 

 Williams, Cornell University. (By 

 permission of the Director of the U. S. 

 Geological Survey). 

 The author explained that the revision 



